1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for analyzing a heat-transferring fluid with a view to learning about heat-transferring properties of the heat-transferring fluid, and particularly to an apparatus and a method for analyzing a heat-transferring nano-fluid typically used in heat pipes.
2. Related Art
A heat pipe is a heat-transferring mechanism that can transport large quantities of heat between a relatively hot interface and a relatively cold interface where the difference in temperature is very small. A vaporizable liquid is typically employed within the heat pipe for transferring the heat between the hot interface and the cold interface. Nano-fluids that contain nano-particles have been recently developed as an improved kind of heat-transferring fluid. The nano-particles provide the nano-fluid with a thermal conductivity higher than that of a conventional vaporizable liquid. Thus nano-fluids are now commonly employed in place of conventional heat-transferring fluids in the manufacture of heat pipes. It is widely known that adding nano-particles to a base fluid can dramatically increase the heat-transferring properties of the base fluid. However, precisely analyzing the relationship between the quantity and type of nano-particles added and the resulting heat-transferring properties yielded is not easy.
Therefore, what is needed is an apparatus and a method for analyzing a heat-transferring fluid that contains nano-particles, the heat-transferring fluid being typically used for heat pipes.